The Last Day of our Lives

I waited in line for 3 hours to vote on Election Day this year. I went down an hour before I normally leave for work (my apartment building was my polling place). I read almost the entire time and nearly finished my book. I started it while I was in line. It’s The Walk by Robert Evans. I got it from The Book Thing in Baltimore when I was there visiting Laura. I really enjoyed the book. The characters are so down–to-earth. I haven’t enjoyed a book that much in a long while. It was my second one since I’ve lived out here that I finished cover to cover (Hunger Games was the first) and that has become a rarity since I was in middle school. It’s amazing how enjoyable reading can be when it’s not assigned homework.

Anyway, this is not about reading, it’s about the election. I voted for Romney for president. It seems like everyone in NoVa is a Democrat. Everyone at work the day after the election was rejoicing that we get to keep Obama as president. 

I think everyone is taking elections way too seriously. The world won’t end whether Obama lost or Romney lost, but a lot of people acted like it. It’s not a big deal to me because they’re both good men who are capable of leading. It all boils down to we all want the same thing, Republicans and Democrats. The difference is in how we get it, the processes. I suppose some of our definitions vary, but neither side will cause the ultimate corruption and end of our world. The media and the people will take care of that on there own. 

I don’t think there’s that much ONE man can do in a THREE-branch government in which he’s only given 4-8 years to influence. I am concerned about the direction that Obama can aim our country, laying foundation for future policy. I’m worried about this. I feel he'll give our people what we want, but are we really sure about what we want, what's good for us? Our country is increasingly focused on social issues. These issues are being reflected from historical perspective (i.e. civil rights movements and women’s suffrage). A majority of people seem to be excited about gay marriage and abortion movement and the media plays it up that way, but it’s not a movement. These issues are not about rights, they are about morals. I suppose the people back in the early 20th Century thought voting rights were a moral issues too, whether or not these people should count (women and African Americans). It will be interesting to see where our values as a country take us in the coming years.

Sisters on the Field

A couple of weekends ago, me and my roommates went to a pancake breakfast and flag football with the Relief Society sisters in our ward. It was all of us except Madie. We had so much fun. Despite the fact that all 3 Relief Society's were invited, the breakfast group was fairly small. Maybe only 25 of us were there. The flag football group was even smaller, as I'm sure you can imagine. We played 6 on 6. It was perfect because everyone got to really get into the game and be involved. I don’t usually like flag football, but that was a lot of fun with all girls. Boys are a little too serious about it most of the time so I've never enjoyed playing it before. For us, it was completely about fun, with a little good-natured competition, of course. We were all so proud of ourselves because we were running plays and they were actually working. haha! Good times. :D

Adventures in Chinatown

We went out to Chinatown for the first time a couple of weeks ago. Well, it was my first time. I went with Keenan, Brent, Ky, and Val to get Sushi. We went to Urban Outfitters on our way back. It was way different from Chinatown in San Francisco, but it was fun. It’s a big night scene for single adults. There are a lot of restaurants, shops, and a movie theater there. 

Brent and I got our sushi served on the same plate. His is the Alaskan roll with the fish eggs on top. I don't remember what mine was, something with avacado and shrimp or crab and tuna or something. I've never seen prettier sushi. SO tasty :D

Zombie Apocalypse!!!!....oh, just Halloween.

Cheap, last-minute Halloween costume= torn up clothes and make up

PERFECT!!!

My mom is such a sweetie! She loves to make holidays special for our family. She's always doing such nice things for us. This year, she sent me a little treat bag filled with our traditional Halloween caramel corn and some fun-size candy bars. 

 There was a DC area YSA Halloween dance the Friday before Halloween. I was talking with my friend from church, Karen, asking what she was going as. This was on a Tuesday, after Institute class. It was so funny because she said her and Vanessa (her roommate, my other friend) were going as zombies. She invited me to do the same and go with them. The funny thing is, that I was talking about it with Vanessa just a few moments later when I ran into her, and she said she didn't know what they were going to be yet. We planned for zombies, though I knew Vanessa wasn't too into it, but it was simple and cheap for me, so I was fine with it. Friday night, about an hour before I was supposed to meet at there apartment, Vanessa texts me and said they decided to go as Two-Face from Batman. Of course, I'd been excited all week about going as a zombie all, and I'd already ripped up one of my only T-shirts I had out here, so there was no way I was backing out on the zombie apocalypse. Dani came with us, and it was just a good time. We all looked great!

Dani was a 50's chick

Karen and Vanessa's roommate, Victoria, went as Kim Kardashian and got her friend to go with her as Kanye West. haha! She totally looks like a Kardashian. She could pass for an Armenian any day, and it's funny because she just got back in June from serving her mission there. Everyone thought she was a local.

Me and Vanessa at their apartment, Crystal Towers, before the dance

So the dance was actually up in Bethesda, Maryland. We all accidentally parted ways once we got there, and I didn't see Karen and Vanessa the whole night. I ran into Sam, and I just met a bunch of his friends and we all talked and hung out the whole time. Dani kept coming and asking me to go dance with her, but I didn't want to. I felt bad because she had wanted so badly to maximize her dance time. We left almost an hour later than I told her we would to go to the dance, and she wasn't having much fun and ended up leaving the dance about an hour after we got there. She caught a ride with some people from our ward. 

I met a lot of fun people that night. One of Sam's friends, Melanie Mitchell, is into dancing, and I’ve stayed in touch with her. We’ve gone out dancing at a place called The Salsa Room, and she’s cut my hair. That’s what she does for a living, cuts hair. I went with her to a waffle party up in Chinatown a couple of Sundays ago. She’s a great girl, and I’m so glad we’re friends. She reminds me a lot of Joan Staheli, one of my mom’s close friends back home. She looks so much like her; could easily pass for her daughter. I’m excited to go dancing with her sometime in Utah when she comes to visit home. We have black light Zumba plans here when she gets back from Thanksgiving in Utah. Can't wait!

Oh, so since I hadn't seen my girls all night, when the dance was over, and they still hadn't materialized despite my efforts to locate them multiple times, I was convinced they'd left me. haha! Come to find out after we'd been united that Karen had been up since 5am and had gone out to her car to sleep, and Vanessa was in the middle of the dance floor most of the time so I never saw her on my strolls about the perimeter, and it was too loud for her to realize I'd called. 

It was a great Halloween! :D

Marine Corps Marathon

30,000 runners registered. Mile marker 23 for the marathon was right out front of my apartment. Though Val and I had no problem crossing the street on our way to church just before 8am, I had to make a break for it to cut across them on my way back around noon. I caught a ride with my visiting teacher after we met, and she just had to drop me on Jefferson Davis since the one-way Clark street that runs alongside it, where the turnoff for my apartment building is, was filled with runners, not to mention blocked off. ;D  I hopped out of her car and onto the sidewalk where a couple of people were cheering. I started visiting with them. They’d been there a half hour. I stood with them for about 15 minutes before there was a slight clearing. I felt as though I’d get ran over. :S Betsy and Val spent 2 hours down there cheering. What troopers! I just sat in our apartment and watched the last 4 episodes of Prison Break season one.

Jefferson Memorial

The Jefferson Memorial is my favorite place in all of D.C. Oddly, I had not yet been there since moving here until Saturday. After the Navy Yard, even though it was getting late, Sam and I went over to the Jefferson. It's kind of a hike from the metro, but it really is worth it. It's outstanding, secluded from the rest of the bustle of the National Mall with all the other monuments, and right on the river. It's so serene and inspirational. We got there just after sunset.
                                      

U.S.S. Barry

Saturday we, Sam and I, went to the Navy Yard to meet up with a few of my friends from my ward. It’s over by the Nats stadium. Sam and I got super lost, so we missed the museum we were supposed to meet up at. When we finally caught up with them, we were able to tour the U.S. S. Barry all together. It was pretty cool. The guys were in heaven. Haha!

U.S.S. Barry

Sam and I finally making our way over to the ship.

Sam wanted a picture with the boat. Such a guy! ;D

The Nats Stadium. I love all the baseballs lining the outside. Creative.

Didn't make it to a game this season :/

We, the Pizza

Sam and I went to We, The Pizza for lunch by the Capitol this last Saturday. iMuy buenisimo! It was SO delicious. We got their buffalo chicken pizza. Blue cheese, buffalo sauce, chicken wings, mozzarella…now that’s what I call a pizza!! :D Plus, the crust was perfect. Best pizza I’ve had in a while.

Happy Halloween!!!...weekend

Friday night, this last weekend, there was a Stake Halloween Dance in Maryland for all of the D.C. singles. I went with my friends Vanessa and Karen from my ward. It is so funny because at Institute on Tuesday night, Karen told me we were all gonna go as zombies, but about 10 minutes before that I’d talked to Vanessa and she said they’d been discussing it and had no clue what they were gonna go as. I asked Karen if she was sure. Karen said, “Oh yeah! We’ve been planning it for days.” I had a feeling Vanessa wasn’t quite convinced. Haha! Anyway, the next few days I made preparations to go as a zombie. I loved that it was such a simple costume because I could easily just buy make up and tear some of my clothes up. Cheap, cheap, and didn’t I mention cheap? I have hardly the money, let alone the means to go shopping for some extravagant costume, and then there was the matter of time. Friday afternoon Vanessa texts me—though I didn’t get it until later in the evening after I’d already started ripping my clothes up—and she tells me that they’ve decided we should all go as Two-Face, from Batman. I was a little ruffled because I’d just started ripping up one of only three T-shirts I brought out here with me, the one I decided I cared least about. I was determined, since I’d been building up brain-eating excitement all week, to go as a zombie. So I did. The girls looked great. I looked gruesome. All was as it should have been. I met up with Sam there and met a lot of his friends. I did very little dancing, mostly just the mingling that goes on so rampantly here that I usually can’t stand. I used to LOVE (no understatement) dances, but since I started partner dancing earlier this year, I find it hard to enjoy just letting loose on the dance floor. A girl I met from Sam’s ward is in a Salsa dancing club, and she invited me to go this week. It’s on Wednesday though, so we’ll see how the weather holds up with Sandy hitting the shore this week. 

PROMISE I'LL ADD PICS of MY GRUESOMENESS LATER. THEY'RE ALL ON MY ROOMIE'S CAMERA.

Baltimore, Maryland

I went to visit Laura a little over a week ago, the weekend we had planned. I just went for Satuday and Sunday. It was a BLAST!!! The only slight problem...her roommate has 3 cats. Not so bad, right? For me, yes. I'm allergic. But, luckily we only spent time there sleeping mostly. We went did so much in one weekend, it's amazing. We first went to her house. She lives in a 4-story row-home. They're so interesting and compacted in these little neighborhoods. She kind of lives in a shady neighborhood (ghetto) so I was nervous. But...her block really is probably the nicest in that part of town. We took the Circulator (a free public bus that circuits around Baltimore) to Inner Harbor. We walked around and went into a few of the shops.

GIANT Barnes & Noble.

Historic Ships in Baltimore Inner Harbor.

                                                                   Ultimate candy store!!!!

Memorial for 9/11. Piece of Twin Towers.

Lunch at Desario's in Little Italy. Crab cakes :D

Laura's neighbors across the street. Their row homes are really no wider than 

the length of their car! That astounds me. 

We went to the Cylburn Arboretum. It was beautiful...and FREE. We had planned to go to the National Aquarium at Inner Harbor, but it was $30 entry, and it took me until noon to get out there. We decided not to spend that kind of money to go for only a few hours, so we referenced my 'to do in Baltimore free' list.

So many pretty gardens at the Cylburn Arboretum. There was a 

wedding going on in one of them while we were there. 

Haha. I love the little Laura and Michelle head shadows at the bottom of this pic. lol!

Before touching the plant.

After touching the leaf. This is a really cool plant! It is sensitive to touch

and shrinks up when you touch it. I guess that's some sort of defense mechanism.

Imagine if this were your yard!! I'm envious!

Mr. Tyson, the original owner of Cylburn, planted this Ginkgo tree in his front yard.

The Tyson mansion is built with stone from one of the many quarries he owned 

in the area. He traveled all over the world and brought seeds back with him

that he planted in his yard. 

Saturday night we went to this place called the Book Thing. It was actually a really cool concept. You can go and donate books and take any book(s) you want. You don't have to donate to take a book. It's really low-scale, loosely categorized, signs made of paper and marker, hodge-podge shelving. You just sign out when you leave and put the number of books you took and any comments you have. All the books are stamped as free Book Thing books that brand them so people can't come take them to resale. Books are expensive, so I love that it helps those who can't afford it, to educate themselves and enjoy reading. They have a lot of text books, books on wellness, history, the world, recipes, novels, and even books in other languages. Anyway...to say the least, I was impressed. I'd love to help them get a better operation going, possibly even make it nation-wide. 

We went to Potbelly sandwiches for dinner. I was somewhat relieved because early in the day Laura had suggested we go to L.P. Steamers. It wouldn't have been such a bad idea, but I was really intimidated by the fact that they just serve you an entire crab. You get a bib and tools to crack it and just go to town. I know it would have been "an experience", but I wouldn't have even known where to begin. Laura sensed my discomfort though I told her I was willing, plus she said we already ate crab for lunch so we should do something different for dinner.  Oh yay! I'll save that adventure for another day.

The singles ward there was surprisingly small. Everyone was really nice though. I enjoyed it a lot. It was a nice change of pace from the bustle of my ward that's huge and ever-changing. 

We went to Fort McHenry after church. It's where Francis Scott Key got his inspiration to write "The Star Spangled Banner." 

Nice, windy day for sailing.

                   I overheard a tour guide saying this cannon is the biggest in existence of its kind.
                             If I understood correctly, it can shoot accurately up to 3 miles away.

Entrance to Fort McHenry. It is a star-shaped fort. Reference map below.

                                                The inside of the fort is like its own little village.

This is a punch bowl that was given to a commander after the war of 1812 to commemorate the victory. It's made to look like a cannon ball from one of the British cannons.  

The flags flown at the fort had their own storage room. Wow!

The ramparts of Fort McHenry